There are grand plans for the famed Mahamastakabhisheka at Shravanabelagola, the event held once in 12 years and draws people from all over the world. But much of the work has fallen behind schedule.
The delay is being attributed to elected representatives and bureaucracy not seeing eye to eye. Differences between the officers and the Minister in charge of the district, A.Manju, over appointing the agency to execute important works, including construction of the scaffolding for the Gomateshwara statue atop Vindhyagiri is seen as the reason, said sources. Interestingly, since Chief Minister Siddaramaiah conducted the first meeting on the preparations for the event in Bengaluru on March 29, 2016, the district has seen three Deputy Commissioners.
When the first meeting was held, Umesh Kusugal was the DC. He was replaced by V. Chaitra, who was transferred even before completing a year. Mr. Manju is said to have had differences with Ms. Chaitra over the choice of the agency for constructing the scaffolding at a cost of ₹12 crore. The Minister wanted the works to go to Karnataka Road Development Corporation (KRDCL), while the DC was in favour of the Public Works Department.
Leaders of the JD(S) had also opposed handing over the work to KRDCL saying the agency did not have sufficient staff to handle the work. However, the Minister defended the action saying that the agency had enough efficiency.
Rohini Sindhuri replaced Ms. Chaitra as Deputy Commissioner in July this year. In a meeting with Chief Minister in Bengaluru on August 8, the DC succeeded in giving the scaffolding work back to the PWD, despite opposition from the Minister.
These developments are said to have caused a rift between the political leadership and the bureaucracy. “The scaffolding work should have begun earlier, but it was delayed only because of these differences,” said an official.
A senior official said the PWD has a hierarchy of officers from the sub-divisional level to the State level. The officers at all levels would be involved in monitoring a work or clearing a bill, which is not so with regard to KRDCL. In this case, scaffolding for the Gomateshwara statue is a very significant work as it is the centre of the whole event. However, KRDCL has been entrusted with the responsibility of building townships at a cost ₹60 crore. The agency is yet to get the work on the ground, as the arrival of the material has begun now. Both the minister and the officers, in public, maintain that the works were going on “as per the schedule” and would be completed well in time.
Charukeerti Bhattaraka Swami of the Jain Mutt, at a press conference, expressed his disappointment over the delay in taking up works for the Prakrit University, an international guest house and a VVIP guest house. The government had not included these structures in the list of works for which a budget of ₹175 crore has been allocated, though the CM himself laid the foundation stone for them in April this year.
